Notre Dame erupts in fifth to down Robbinsville

LAWRENCE » The Robbinsville and Notre Dame High baseball teams went into their Colonial Valley Conference game Friday trying to continue to improve as they prepare for Monday’s county tournament.

All seemed well enough for both teams through four innings until the Irish’s offense erupted to score six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and put a sudden, 10-0 end to a game which had seemed to be much closer early on.

“It was good for us to come out and hit today,” ND sophomore outfielder Nick Feretic said. “We really needed a hit the other day against Steinert, but did not get it.”

Coming off a rare, 15-inning, 3-3 affair with Steinert at Father John D’Onofrio Field Wednesday, head coach Joe Drulis’ team really wanted to show that it has improved since a 2-4 start to the season.

The Irish have gone 6-1-1 over the last three weeks with improved hitting to go along with steady pitching. In those eight games, Notre Dame, which will be a No. 9 seed in the MCT, has outscored opponents, 80-14.

Versus Robbinsville, the Irish ripped 16 hits, led by Robbie Buecker’s 3-for-4 performance. Every player who batted for ND had at least one hit. Feretic, Tatem Levins and Bill Trimble each had two doubles. Feretic’s big hits started a three-run rally in the second inning (when he doubled in Justin Frascella) and the six-run fifth (when he doubled home Jake Kmiec and Frascella).

“It’s been a long season, but now that we’ve started hitting, we’re doing better,” Feretic said.

Things had looked like they were getting better for the Ravens recently as head coach Tom Brettell’s squad had won three in a row heading into their matchup with the Irish.

They had opportunities against Notre Dame’s 6-foot-5 sophomore right-handed pitcher Steve Graver, but stranded two runners in scoring position and had another thrown out at the plate when ND junior left fielder Kyle Rosica gunned down Garrett Bilgrav as he tried to score on Shane Martin’s two-out single in the top of the fifth.

“He threw well, but I was seeing the ball out of his hand well,” said Ravens’ junior second baseman Nick Matt, a third generation R’ville player who went 2-for-2. “We need to polish some things in practice like our hitting. We need to be able to string hits together.”

It looked as though that would be the case in the first inning against Graver as Martin (2-for-3) singled and stole second base with one out. Tyler Lehmann’s two-out single put runners at the corners, but Graver got opposing pitcher Dan Frascella to pop out to end the threat.

Back-to-back doubles by Levins and Trimble to start the bottom of the third gave the home team a 4-0 edge, but Robbinsville still seemed to be in the game until Notre Dame’s sixth-inning explosion in which the Irish batted around with seven players hitting safely against reliever Matt Klepper before Trimble doubled in Chris Meincke to put the 10-run rule in effect. ROBBINSVILLE

abr Béchmps cf 3 0 Martin ss 3 0 GCke 1b-rf 2 0 Lehmnn 3b 2 0 DFrslla p1b 2 0 Matt 2b 2 0 JuPnzn dh 2 0 Grmbwtz lf 2 0 McCnney c 1 0 Bilgrav cr 0 0 Barnaba rf 0 0 Klepper p 0 0 hbi 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Robbinsville (4-13) Notre Dame (8-5-1)

Game ended by 10-run rule with 2 outs. E — Béchamps; LOB — Robbinsville 5, Notre Dame 7; 2B — Feretic 2, Levins 2, Trimble 2; SB — Martin, Bilgrav, Buecker 2, Kmiec, Feretic; CS — JuPenzone, Mains.

IP HR ER BB SO ROBBINSVILLE

DFrascella L,0-3

Klepper

NOTRE DAME

Graver W,1-0 5.0 6 0 0 1 HbP- by DFrascella (JFrascella); WP — DFrascella.

3.0 1.2 NOTRE DAME

abr hbi Mains ss 3111 Bueckr 3b 4 1 3 1 Levins c 4122 Meincke cr 0 1 0 0 Trimble 1b 4 0 2 2 Kmiec cf 3120 JFrslla 2b 2220 Feretic rf 3123 Russo dh 3211 Rosica lf 3010 Graver p 0000

8 8

00000— 0 031 06 — 10

4 6

4 6

1 0

0 1

2